Platform Change ADDS 36% Sale

Having an old, outdated website will hold back your online sales as web innovation marches on relentlessly. This case study looks at how changing from an old, tired platform to a fresh, constantly updated one can reap real rewards by boosting revenues.

BR Special Tuning had been selling performance motorcycle exhausts via mail order and magazine advertising originally before moving online using osCommerce to power his ecommerce store. Sales had reached a plateau with no marketing in place to drive more sales. After all, this was a comfortable level of sales for the owner.

However, the website was coming under attack from hackers who were able to download the code legitimately and exploit it because it was "open source". At the same time, the site was frequently running slowly due to hosting constraints.

Wildfire Internet transferred the website to our superior ReallyEasyCart platform. We imported the data using our osCommerce connector and advised on how to structure it for better search based on Make Model Year variations since the parts were for vehicles. This resulted in a 36% increase in revenues with no additional marketing at all and a far better user experience, with loyal customers saying how much better the new site was to search and buy from.

How We Achieved It

3. Setting Up A Test Environment

We set up a special test environment so that we could make sure the data import had been successful, given there were products, options, attributes and customer data to bring across. Once the data was confirmed as clean by the client and signed off, we ran some test searches and orders making us 100% confident that the site transfer would be seamless.

4. Customer Trained, Site Launched

The next step was to train the client on all the new features in the store and the ones which were most important from day one. Once this was completed, an email campaign was sent to existing customers to advise the site was switching to a superior platform and the switchover took place. We followed good practice in reducing the time-to-stable so that web domain name servers around the world recognised the new site in the shortest possible time.

5. Monitor, Review, Enhance

Following a successful site launch, we monitored the site and reviewed its performance. Traffic to the site started to pick up and conversion rates rose. The site began to attract more foreign visitors and sales revenues increased. This resulted in a 36% increase in sales with no extra marketing activity, leading to the best ever year for BR Special Tuning.

We used our in-built Adwords Optimiser feature to drive return-on-investment (ROI) from Adwords past the 900% mark from a single investment. With a proven high ROI, we ratcheted up the campaign because it was generating hugely profitable sales.

During the year, as a matter of course we updated the site with new enhancements at no extra charge. This included the new Google Merchant Centre rule changes which led to a further rise in visitors and sales. All part of the service!

Minimising The Risk, Maximising The Reward

The risk for BR Special Tuning was that switching to another ecommerce platform after years of making money on his "old, reliable cart-horse" might cause a loss of earnings.

Understanding this, we worked together hand-in-glove to make sure everything would proceed as expected.

The reward for BR Special Tuning was to benefit from the significant superiority of the ReallyEasyCart platform and its ability to drive in more traffic and increase conversions. Ultimately this reward meant a significant 36% increase in sales revenues.

In summary, switching to a leading edge system backed up by real experts is the right way to go.